New Astral Chain trailer

Looks like Platinum Games is coming out with another great platformer à la Bayonetta and Nier: Automata, but it doesn't seem to be garnering as much attention as those two games. Will it underperform and cause Platinum to stop developing games for the Switch altogether?

Damn near everything on the switch seems to sell like hotcakes so i seriously doubt it.

August 2, 2019 - 03:07

Joseph Green

Well that's because NoA is sending it out to die like they did with Wonderful 101. They seem to be promoting Dragon Quest and Daemon X Machina more than this game, it's quite sad actually.

August 2, 2019 - 03:13

Jonathan Morgan

Don't most platinum games usually underperform in sales anyway? Aside from Nier: Automata.

August 2, 2019 - 03:19

Oliver Anderson

No since Nintendo seems determined to eternally fund them. After all Wonderful 101 and bayonetta 2 bombed yet Nintendo keeps them around. The real question is if Nintendo will ever abandon them.

Yes. The company being kept alive long enough to see a modicrum of success in Automata is nothing short of a miracle. Hell SEGA had no interest in even funding Bayonetta 2 after Bayonetta 1 underperformed, the only game they were even remotely known for.

August 2, 2019 - 03:22

Camden Watson

Nintendo doesn't really have that many third party studios, so I guess they reluctantly will, but they could at least advertise their games a bit more, hell this presentation didn't even have a voice/presenter telling you in japanese at least, how the game works.

I like the look and feel of the game, even though it's mostly stuff from their other games(the sword legion is Raiden, the beast legion is Bayonetta's panther form). hope they have one or two more gimmicks with the chain, besides a counter and a bind, maybe tripping larger enemies, I don't know. My only nitpick, is the names for the legion, they could have at least given them some cliche names instead of sword/fist/axe, like Lancellot/Musashi for Sword or Galm/Okami for the Beast.

August 2, 2019 - 03:32

Luis White

It's funny how when Platinum were making licensed quick-cash grab games for Activision, they were marketed well and there's some buzz even if the games are short, buggy, and not worth the price tag, but goddamn, Nintendo needs to work on getting something to stick when presenting Platinum exclusive games.

August 2, 2019 - 03:36

Kevin Nelson

Nigger what. Its an ARPG

August 2, 2019 - 03:37

Dominic Price

Huh, I didn't even know it was made by Platinum. I just saw it while scrolling through the store and thought it looked interesting, so I put it on my WishList so that I could keep tabs on it for when it releases so I could either pirate it or get a physical copy depending on how it panned out.

August 2, 2019 - 03:39

Zachary Parker

What's the state of Switch emulation at the moment?

August 2, 2019 - 03:42

Jonathan Torres

It can die.

August 2, 2019 - 03:42

Mason King

Proof?

August 2, 2019 - 03:44

Nathan Price

lol

August 2, 2019 - 03:46

Ethan Sanchez

Jus thow DUMB do you even have to be to think this game is a platformer? It looks pretty OK though. If my bro is down to couch-op it I think I might even buy it!

None of their games actually underperform. They explained this themselves ages ago, they have an efficient dev cycle and focus on low cost development so they can comfortably continue making games the way they do. They're effectively budget game developers but with a strong sense of good action game design.

August 2, 2019 - 04:57

Aaron Roberts

What the fuck am i reading?

August 2, 2019 - 05:08

Aaron Davis

Oh man, I can't wait, this looks heavily influenced by my second most favourite Puzzle game: Call of Duty 4

I was kinda interested in this game, but what tipped me over the edge was this fucking music.platinumgames.com/official-blog/article/10303The chill BGMs remind me of Frozen Synapse, which had a great OST, but the switch to the action BGMs get me pumped too.

NOA is sending it out to die though. NOA hates anything that isn't a big IP. Then when it actually sells somewhat decently they'll crow about supporting new IP, as if they ever fucking have.

Looks great. I can't wait to get my hands on it. I was going to get DxM, but this looks more up my alley.

August 2, 2019 - 08:16

Carter Morris

That comes with its own drawbacks too. Irrc the biggest reason they were at risk of going under was because scalebound was canceled after they had sunk in so many resources into the game. The loss of those resources without compensation can be devastating for a budget dev. Thankfully they got rid of JP Kellams, the guy responsible for the game in the first place and turning it into another banal action game starring Douchebag McGee

AI partner's are okay if all the AI does is supplement the player's ability to precisely place and time the partner attacks. You can seemingly do the former, but I'm not sure about the latter.

August 2, 2019 - 08:22

Jaxson Wright

At this point in time, I really believe that there are SJWs at NoA that actively try to sabotage Kamiya's games by under-marketing them because muh sexism and muh ableism (since all his games are difficult, which probably makes them impossible for SJWs to play)

The whole ordeal surrounding the Wonderful 101 never sat quite right with me, how a second-party game from Nintendo could get such a non-treatment, but I chalked it up to the Wii U not selling for shit. Yet now I am again getting the same vibes as back then, other than a trailer here and there and that direct there was nothing regarding marketing

Only this has nothing to do with Kamiya you nigger it's being made by the Automata and Anarchy Reigns guys iirc.Platinum =/= Based Blocked ManI do agree with your sentiment though.

August 2, 2019 - 10:20

Nathaniel Carter

I'm thinking about getting a switch for this game, Bayo 2 and 3. I'll have to see how it truly is but Platinum have a good record.

August 2, 2019 - 10:53

Aaron Rogers

W101 isn't that good of a game, a hundred button mashing segments coupled with shit fucking minigames inbetween isn't a good excuse

August 2, 2019 - 11:16

Jayden Rodriguez

It is being supervised by him though, so I can see most people falsely attributing the game directly to him

That's, like, your opinion man. And yes some of the minigames/gameplay change segments are annoying, but the game also has one of the best ending sequence in videogames, and you gotta respect the hustle of in current times having almost 50% of the gameplay locked away even after beating the game and every QTE having it's unique animated failure cutscene, when less than 1% of players will ever experience that

August 2, 2019 - 11:31

Kayden Hill

I'd be really interested but the art style looks like ass and i don't have a switch anyway, call me when they announce their new collab with moon man

To be fair, most of those titles (W101, Bayo 2, SFZ) were all on Wii U which sold like shit to begin with. But I believe Nintendo funded most of it. I don't think Bayo 3 is in development hell, I think it's been shelved for Astral Chains. And honestly the new IP looks a bit better and is more exciting than a third entry in a series. I think we will see Bayo 3 release next year in the fall, though.

Platinum is punished, or they're locked in mediocrity despite the ability to make amazing games. They can make money, but only off Nier: Automata having meme marketing, while the real passion project is made a money hole by Microsoft.

Bayo 3 and Astral Chain are being developed by different teams, at the same time. No idea why Bayo 3 is taking too long, I hope they're not pursuing the open world concept.Supposedly, Astral Chain's world is built open for sequels. Hopefully it does well enough to get them, I already want to see more of the city.Goes without saying, plus Bayonetta being in Smash helped draw attention to the series. Bayo 1 could become a Skyrim/RE4-tier port cash cow for Sega, if they ever wanted money.

August 2, 2019 - 15:22

Jack Gomez

They're not behind granblu. They were on contract for a year and now they're done.

Scalebound wasn't a passion project, it was JP Kellams making a bunch of empty promises. It was going to be trash.

Bayo 3 is being used to establish some "new design process" that they're going to be using going forward, so part of why it's taking so long is that they're using it to develop the company as well.

August 2, 2019 - 15:29

Benjamin Lee

I've heard mixed things like Kamiya originally having some game about a girl and her dinosaur in mind, but I can't remember the details. I do know that because of it Kamiya is so burnt out he's mostly going to be doing business stuff and supervising now. Although I feel like if Sega let him do a game set in Fantasy Zone (like Space Harrier and, well Fantasy Zone) he'd jump on that shit.

August 2, 2019 - 21:34

Dominic Edwards

I really want to like Platinum but for every really good product they make like Vanquish they make 2-3 Bayonetta lights which is already just diet DMC so they're double diluted. Like this has all of the bad trappings that platinums action games have had for a while. Like nothing about this game is immediately screaming fun but more busy work, combat looks like it gets tiresome after a couple of hours when from the presenting it's some massive story game where you'd be playing for a good while.